Rail road crossings are examples of access control points that are provided with track side equipment to warn people at the crossing that rail traffic is approaching. Typically, this takes the form of a post bearing a bell which is sounded to provide an audible warning. In addition a visual warning is provided by a set of lights made to flash. Often, the bell is made of brass, bronze, or some other metal which has significant value as scrap metal. Unfortunately, this value has made it attractive for criminals to steal the bell.
In addition to the financial loss, there is also the potential cost of replacement in terms of remedial work to install a new bell, delays to operation of the rail road because of the remedial work and the safety implications to persons using the crossing. Thus, the loss of the bell due to criminal activity or simply vandalism has serious consequences that would be best avoided.
It is known to provide an anti-tamper collar to the equipment to prevent removal of the bell. The collar is fixed over a bell housing between upper and lower tabs which project out of the housing to prevent movement in the vertical plane. Hardware on the housing is obscured by the collar when fitted. This is hardware being used to fix the bell housing to the post. The collar includes two radially-outwardly-extending ends with holes which when aligned permit the insertion of a padlock to retain the ends of the collar together. The padlock is then locked to prevent unauthorized removal.
It has been found however that a certain degree of “play” is available in the prior art arrangement which may permit undesirable manipulation of the lock to allow the collar to be removed. The manipulation can result in the collar being forced upwards beyond the tabs allowing access to the housing hardware. The housing may then be removed to gain access to the bell and its removal.
It would be desirable to have a device which overcomes the problems described above. The invention provides such a device. These and other advantages of the invention, as well as additional inventive features, will be apparent from the description of the invention provided herein.